Mute for wind instruments.



PATENTBD SEPT. 8, 1903.

J. J. NEUMANN. MUTE FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1900.

' H0 IODEL.

1% c9 1/, 5% lmmm UNrrnD STATES Patented September 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFIcE.

JULIUS J. NEUMANN, OF CHICAGO, lLLINOI.

MUTE FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 738,472, dated September 8, 1903.

Application filed September 29, 1900. Serial No. 31,529. (No model.)

. T aZZ witmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUS J. NEUMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,- in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mutes for IVind Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mutes for musical instruments, and refers more specifically to mutes intended for use with wind instruments such as cornets and the like.

It has been common heretofore to provide a mute in the nature of a stopperor plug adapted to be inserted within the bell or trumpet of the instrument, the construction of the mute being such as to provide a restricted passage outside of or past the mute and between the latter and the wall of the bell. It has also been common to provide constructions in which the blast has passed through the mute; but in all of the mutes with which I am familiar the result in use is to change the blowing qualities of the instrument to such an extent that the benefits resulting from practice upon the instrument with a mute were substantially destroyed. "With all of the constructions with which I am familiar also the responsiveness of the instrument, or its capability of being thrown into tone quickly to produce quick short notes, has been impaired.

It is the object of the present invention to overcome these difficultics and toproduce a mute which may be economically constructed and conveniently used and which will not only serve to reduce the tone of the instrument, but will do so without materially interfering with the blowing qualities and responsiveness of the instrument.

To this end the invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view, partly in axial section and partly in elevation, of the bell portion of an ordinary cornet equipped with my invention. Fig. 2 is an end or plan view of the mute, a portion of the discharge-passage thereof being shown in axial section. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates as a whole the bell portion of a eornet, and 2 designates as a whole a mute inserted in position within said bell. The main body of the mute consists of a hollow sheet-metal body, prefer ably made somewhat conical, its inner end be ing open, while its outer end is closed by a convex end wall or cap 3. Around the smaller or inner end of the mute is mounted a rubber or analogous ring at, which serves to insure the proper contact between the mute and the bell of the instrument, to hold the mute securely in position frictionally and to close the bell of the instrument, so as to insure that the blast must pass through the body of the mute.

5 designates as a whole an outlet extension which, as shown herein, consists of atubular extension, one end of which, as 6, extends inwardly through the end wall of the mute and communicates with its interior, while its outer portion 7 is bent over at right angles to extend transversely of the bell of the instrument and terminates in a widened and flattened portion 8, closed at its end, as indicated at 9, but provided with lateral outlets 1O 10.

It is to be understood that the precise contour or shape of the device is not essential, but the construction shown herein possesses structural advantages peculiar to itself, the end aimed at being to produce a structure which will, in conjunction with the chamber of the mute-body,frictionally retard the blast, yet not sufficiently to materially interfere with the blowing of the instrument.

In the preferred construction shown the flattened and broadened portion 8 is economically and conveniently produced by folding a strip of sheet metal upon itself and bringing its edges together at one end to form a tubular portion, as indicated at 11, which fits within and forms an extension of the tubular portion 6. The side margins of the strip are not brought together throughout the full length of the part 8 and are desirably made thin or lip-like from the outer end inwardly some distance and are so shaped as to provide at each side the elongated slots or lateral outlets 1O 10.

It will be observed from the foregoing description'that this construction affords a most convenient means of varying the length of the slot and also its contour to exactly suit the instrument with which the device is intended to be used.

The slot or slots which form the dischargepassage of the device are made of suflicient capacity to permit the instrument to be blown without seriously restricting the blast, especially after the tone has been commenced; but nevertheless the capacity and extent of the discharge-passage and the area of the outlets thereof are such as to produce a frictional retardation of the blast, which apparently enables the tone to be started easily and quickly and also enables the tone to be maintained with an effort which is substantially the same as that required in blowing the instrument normally or without the mute. It is believed that the enlarged chamber formed within the body of the mute,combined with the restricted discharge-outlet, operates to retard the blast at the beginning of the impulse'to a greater extent than it does after the blast has once beenfairly started and that this momentary increased retardation aids in initiating the tone easily.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in modified forms, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact details of construction shown herein except to the extent that they are made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. Amute for wind instruments comprising a hollow body fitted at its inner end to the bell of an instrument, open at said inner end to communicate with the interior of the instrument, interiorly enlarged at its outer end and provided with an open unobstructed outlet at its outer end smaller than the inlet at its smaller end, a hollow extension communicating with said outer end outlet, provided also with an unobstructed outlet of less capacity than its inlet.

2. A mute for wind instruments comprising a hollow main body fitted at one end to the bell of an instrument, open at said fitted end to communicate with the interior of said instrument,enlarged at a point remote from its blastreceiving end and provided with an outlet of restricted'size, a hollow extension eommunieating with said outlet and itself provided with an outlet of more restricted capacity.

3. A mute for wind instruments comprising a hollow main body fitted at one end to the bell of an instrument, open at said fitted end to communicate with the interior of said instrument, enlarged at a point remote from its blast- -extension being deflected abruptly and laterally.

4. Amute for wind instruments comprising a hollow body conforming generally to atruncated section of the bell of an instrument and fitted at its smaller end to the bell, open at said smaller end to communicate with the interior of the instrument, provided at its outer end with an open outlet of restricted area and otherwise closed, a hollow tubular extension communicating with said outlet and provided with one or more restricted outlets, the walls through which said latter outlet or outlets are in adc being thin and susceptible of vibration.

5. Amute for wind instruments comprising a hollow body conforming generally to a truncated section of the bell of an instrument and fitted at its smaller end to the bell, open at said smaller end to communicate with the interior of the instrument, provided at its outer end with an open outlet of restricted area and otherwise closed,a hollow tubular extension communicatin g with said outlet and provided with one or more restricted outlets, the walls through which said latter outlet or outlets are made being thin and susceptible of vibration, and said tubular extension being deflected laterally to extend in close proximity to the enlarged end of the main body and terminating within the bell of the instrument.

6. In a mute, the combination with a hollow stopper-body provided with an outlet, an out let extension arranged to communicate with the interior of the stopper-body consisting of a tubular member the terminal end of which is flattened and broadened and in part closed by a transverse end wall, and laterallydisposed outlets formed at the juncture of the sides of the extension with the end wall thereof.

'7 In a mute, the combination with a hollow stopper-body provided with an outlet, an outlet extension arranged to communicate with the interior of the stopper-body consisting of a tubular member the terminal end of which is flattened and broadened and in part closed bya transverse end wall, and laterally-disposed outlets formed at the juncture of the sides of the extension with the end wall thereof, the end of said outlet extension which communicates with the stopper-body being bent substantially at right angles to the main body of the extension whereby an abruptly-deflected passage is formed.

8. I11 a mute,the combination with a hollow stopper-body provided with an outlet, an outlet extension arranged to communicate with the interior of the stopper-body consisting of a tubular member the terminal end of which is flattened and broadened and in part closed by a transverse end wall, and laterally-dis posed outlets formed at the juncture of the sides of the extension with the end wall thereof, the walls of the terminal end portion of said extension being made thin and susceptible of vibration under the action of a toneblast passing therethrough.

9. In a mute for wind instruments, a hollow stopper-like body tapering throughout its principal length and fitted at its smaller end to the bell of an instrument, a frictionband attached to the exterior of said fitted portion, an outwardly-convex wall substantially closing the outer end of the stopperbody, an outlet-opening in said end wall located at one side of the center thereof, and a tubular outlet extension connected and communicating with said outlet, deflected to lie across the central portion of the end of the stopper-body and provided with a restricted outlet.

10. In a mute for wind instruments, ahollow stopper-like body tapering throughout its principal length and fitted at its smaller end to the bell of an instrument, a frictionband attached to the exterior of said fitted portion, an outwardly-convex wall substantially closing the outer end of the stopperbody, an outlet-opening in said end wall located at one side of the center thereof, and a tubular outlet extension connected and communicating with said outlet, deflected to lie across the central portion of the end of the stopper-body and provided with a restricted outlet, said tubular extension being of two-part construction and the parts thereof united with a telescoping slip-joint.

11. A mute for Wind instruments, comprising a hollow body constructed to lit the bell of an instrument to form a stopper therefor, an inlet affording communication between the interior of the instrument and the hollow body, an outlet at the end thereof remote from the inlet, said outlet located out of line with the blast entering the hollow body and of much smaller size than the internal diameter of the stopper-body, and a subsidiary chamber with which said outlet communicates, said subsidiary chamber being of much less capacity than the main stopper-body.

12. A mute for wind instruments comprising a hollow shell-like body conforming in shape approximately to a truncated section of the bell of an instrument and constructed to fit at its smaller end in the bell of an instrument to form a stopper therefor, the inner end open to communicate with the interior of the instrument, an outlet in the outer portion of said body of reduced size, and an outlet extension communicating with the outlet of the main body and itself terminating in elongated slot-like openings.

13. A mute for wind instruments comprisin g a hollow sheet'metal body constructed to fit within the body of an instrument to form a stopper therefor, the inner end open to communicate with the interior of the instrument, the outer portion provided with an outlet of restricted size, an outlet extension connected with said outlet and terminating in a reduced outlet bounded by knife-edged lips.

14:. A mute for Wind instruments comprising a hollow stopper-like body having a substantially closed outer end and adapted to be inserted in the bell of the wind instrument to form a stopper for the latter, means for 

